The Comparison Game And A Good Stage Name

How does the saying go?  Comparison is the thief of joy.  I believe Teddy Roosevelt said that and it is true I suppose.  I just wish the knowledge of such a joy kill would stop my sometimes toxic brain from making those comparisons. I have found that going to big events makes it worse sometimes. But the thing about me is that my self doubt will never hold me hostage.  I will feel the same negativity sitting at home with my cats, doom scrolling IG or TikTok so I might as well do something fun and maybe that’s just the distraction my brain needs for all of those negative thoughts to be pushed aside for awhile although I suspect they won't go easily, they rarely if ever do.

The art of misdirected comparisons did somewhat effect me this weekend. We attended ACL (Austin City Limits), one of the largest music festivals in the United States. The festival draws approximately 450,000 attendees over two weekends; features a broad array of artists (pop, country, EDM, alternative) who perform over nine stages.  The first time I went was seven years ago.  My husband and I had just started dating.  I had no idea what to expect and was under prepared, which may have led to an unfortunate snapping of a sandal (never wear sandals to a music festival), then impulsively buying ill fitted (two sizes too small) leather shoes (never wear leather shoes, boots…yes, shoes…no when you're in TX and walking all day), and the loss of two toenails (which finally have grown back, it only took four years, but they still don’t look right).

I have grown a lot since then; bolder perhaps, more prone to standing up for myself, not as shy in social situations or maybe I'm just used to pushing myself into the world. At this point, I would consider myself a pro at navigating this particular festival since this was our seventh year attending.  I now know what to wear (boots for sure) and what not to wear (obviously not sandals and you should rethink any and all types of body suits, especially if you have a small bladder, the port-a-potties are a nightmare).  The best places to find a spot if you are prepared to camp out for a particular artists/band (try to get a place as close to the aisle as possible, you may see celebrities because that's where the VIPs enter/exit and you will get a shit ton of free water) or if you are just wanting to bop around and see the most artists in the time that you have (in this case try to maneuver your way in front of the sound booth, it's a pocket that people always think is full, but it usually isn't). 

However, for me the downside to this festival is the many stages.  Inevitably you are going to have to pick which band/artist you're committed to seeing because there will be overlaps.  This year I think ACL did a better job of where they placed certain artists as opposed to previous years.  Last year it seemed that everyone wanted to see Chappel Roan’s performance and then everyone wanted to leave as soon as she was through, which caused a mad exit and an unfortunate maddening of a crowd.

Also, we decided to not go with the teeny boppers' musical pathway having done this in previous years for Miley Cyrus (my husband got shamed for being too tall and for liking Miley..how dare he), Billy Eillish (the conversations that I had to witness I do not wish on my worst enemy), and even last year with Chappel Roan (her crowd refused to stand up for Cannons, the band who played before her…i.e. rude).  My mental health thanked me for traveling on a road not taken by the masses.

So here was our musical road map. Characters included of course.

DAY 1

CHARACTER - WILLOW MEADOW or should it be MEADOW WILLOW?

We wanted to, or rather I wanted to see ROLE MODEL not ROLE MODELS, which makes sence now that I think about it. ROLE MODEL is the lead singer's stage name, and I don't really know quite how I feel about someone proclaiming themselves to be a role model. Aren't you setting yourself up for failure or maybe he's being ironic. Which brings up another issue, I don't know if his particular audience would even be able to understand irony. Whatever it is I suspect he doesn’t care all that much . He’s probably way too busy watching his star rise. I will say that he must have given his PR person a raise or something for he has created a gimmick that goes along with one his songs, one that I kind of find to be annoying. The song is call Sally, When The Wine Runs Out. As much as I hate falling prey to the internet's direction in my life, I lost the battle, but hopefully not the war, I still found myself scouring the internet looking for all the past Sallys and any Easter Egg as to who he might bring out for ACL.

We got there an hour and a half early.  Saw KING PRINCESS. Also not a band as I had previously thought, but her stage name. Is that a thing nowadays to have a stage name if you're an artist? And do you have to register such a thing? What if everyone changed their name to something cooler, something even a little bit ironic, would chaos inevitably ensue?

I did think she rocked it.

Then we waited.

And waited. 

These people waited too.

AND FINALLY

ACL WEEKEND ONE SALLY. I was shook.

Hillary Duff

MARIN MORRIS (real name not one made for the stage) next...

Side note: She performed on the Beatbox stage which we ended up loving and revisiting all three days. It was less crowded; allowed us some breathing room and a chance to see some artists a little bit closer.

We weren’t too excited to see the headliner.  We had already seen HOZIER (surprisingly real name, HOZIER being part of his last name) recently and he does put on an amazing show, but we didn't feel the need to stay for the entirety of his concert. So, we left after a few songs or maybe we're just getting older and my feet hurt and all I could think about was the food truck situation that would be happening as soon as we got back to the hotel.

DAY #2

CHARACTER: DENVER DAWN

MARINA (real name, but did have a stage name at one point: MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS.  She's a Welsh singer-songwriter.  

SABRINA CARPETER fans were already smothering us so we headed out early to see BACKSEAT LOVERS (finally an actual band name) not BACKSTREET LOVERS. I wonder if that name was even discussed when band names were being suggested? I doubt it for these guys are quite literally 20 something babies.

Maybe that's why they seemed so happy and appreciative, they haven't been living that long.

JAPANESE BREAKFAST (band name)...

Cool vibes for sure.

SABRINA CARPENTER fans apparently do no know how to handle themselves in public because they caused her to start late, so we made the right decision to stay clear of that side of the festival. We did basically what we did Friday because i.e. old and all that I said before...feet, fear of long lines, food trucks.

We saw a few songs from THE STROKES and headed out.

DAY #3

CHARACTER: She doesn’t really have a name.  This was not the outfit that I envisioned for myself, but it was comfortable, so a win win.

WILD RIVERS (band name)... 

Canadian folk band and they were chill and so was their crowd.

TPAIN rocked it.

Was I even surprised and if I was shame on me.

We beelined it to THE KILLERS soon after.  And repeated what we had done the previous two nights because old and feet hurt, fear of standing in long lines, food trucks and basically just food in general.

Just in case you're wondering, the music eventually did get me past overanalyzing myself and everyone else around me which caused me to further wonder if there will ever be a time when I’m satisfied with the past me and the present me, or will I always hope for that future version that has finally gotten it right.  The answer is I don’t know.  I’m 44 now and should be familiar with today's Elizabeth instead of pretending to be characters.  Or maybe that is the real me.  The overimaginative girl that never quite got over playing dress up.  I will be 94 with pink and blue hair telling anyone who will listen that my name is Cordelia today and only today because that's my new character.  They say that women reach a certain disapearing age and I am looking forward to that time actually for it will only elicit another round of characters, ones that may be more bold, more daring and I look forward to meeting every last one of them.